About Kathleen Pithouse-Morgan
Professor at University of Nottingham
My Story
My work as an educator and researcher has been shaped by a long-standing interest in how people learn through reflection, creativity, and close attention to their own practice. I began my professional life as a school teacher in South Africa and the UK, experiences that continue to ground my scholarship in the everyday realities of teaching and learning .
As I moved into higher education, first in South Africa and later internationally, I became increasingly interested in how teachers, teacher educators, and other professionals learn from their own work. This led me to doctoral study at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where I explored professional learning through narrative self-study. Since then, self-reflexive and practitioner-led inquiry has remained central to everything I do as a researcher, teacher, and supervisor .
I am now a Professor of Education at the University of Nottingham and an honorary Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Across these roles, my work focuses on professional learning, academic identity, and research methodologies that help people make sense of their experiences and use this understanding to bring about meaningful, context-sensitive change .
Publication Highlights
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Published Books
Google Scholar Citations
Total Publications
Google Scholar H-index
Most cited publications
July 23, 2018
Self‐study in teaching and teacher development: A call to action
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August 10, 2018
Draft, Book Reading • Los Angeles, CA
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Published Books
Publications
Citations
My story is one of ongoing learning. I see education and research as shared, relational practices grounded in curiosity and care
Creativity, Reflexivity, and Learning
A distinctive feature of my scholarship is the use of arts-based and creative approaches to research. I work with methods such as self-study, autoethnography, poetic inquiry, memory-work, and narrative inquiry. These approaches open up spaces for different kinds of knowing and allow researchers and practitioners to engage with complexity, emotion, and uncertainty in thoughtful and generative ways . I am particularly interested in how creative and collaborative research practices can support teachers and academics to grow as reflective, ethical, and imaginative professionals.
Alongside my research, I am deeply committed to teaching and researcher development. I work closely with postgraduate students and early-career researchers, supporting them to design practice-informed research that matters in their own professional contexts. At Nottingham, I lead and contribute to postgraduate education, including the Professional Doctorate in Education (EdD), where I work with experienced professionals who are researching their own practice .
I also contribute to the international research community through editorial and leadership roles. I serve as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Teaching and Teacher Education and am actively involved in research associations such as the British Educational Research Association and the American Educational Research Association, particularly in communities focused on self-study and arts-based educational research .
Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to receive recognition for both my research and teaching, including national awards for excellence in educational research and teaching in South Africa. These acknowledgements matter to me not as endpoints, but as reminders of the value of careful, creative, and collaborative work in education .
Education and Qualifications
PhD in Education
Learning through teaching : a narrative self-study of a novice teacher educator
University of KwaZulu‑Natal, South Africa
Thesis focused on professional learning through narrative self‑study.
Master of Education (Cum Laude)
What is this? What is this? What is this? : a teacher’s personal narrative inquiry into a memorable curriculum experience.
University of Natal, South Africa
Research explored teachers’ learning through personal narrative inquiry.
Bachelor Degrees & Diloma
- Bachelor of Education (Honours) (Cum Laude) – University of Natal, South Africa.
- Bachelor of Arts – University of Natal, South Africa
- Higher Diploma in Education – University of Natal, South Africa